Electric vehicle and method of battery set-point control

ABSTRACT

A method includes utilizing navigation data from a navigation system to segment a route to be travelled by a travelling vehicle into segments each having a road grade different than neighboring segments. The method further includes discharging a battery of the vehicle as the vehicle travels along an initial segment of the route according to a state-of-charge (SoC) set-point based on the road grade of the initial segment and a variable representative of the road grades of at least two other segments of the route.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/176,972, filed Jul. 6, 2011; which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/361,948, filed Jul. 7, 2010; thedisclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein intheir entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to battery set-point control of electricvehicles.

BACKGROUND

A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) includes two power sources fordelivering power to propel the vehicle. Typically, the first powersource is an internal combustion engine which consumes fuel and thesecond power source is a battery which stores and uses electricity.

SUMMARY

The fuel economy of a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) can be improved fora given traveling route or path if the battery usage is adapted for theroute or path. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention,the control of a HEV (including non-plug-in and plug-in HEVs) is tied toa route to be traveled in order to reduce fuel consumption and therebyimprove fuel economy. Utilizing available route information includingroad characteristics, vehicle conditions, and traffic conditions, thebattery charging and discharging can be optimized for the route. Theproliferation of navigation systems and digital maps in modern vehiclescan facilitate the application of such path dependent control methodsfor HEVs.

Embodiments of the present invention seek to improve the fuel economy ofa HEV for a route to be traveled by optimizing the charging anddischarging of the battery depending on the route. In accordance withembodiments of the present invention, a route to be traveled by thevehicle is segmented into a series of route segments. Properties of eachroute segment such as length, grade, and vehicle speed trajectories orpatterns are known or expected. To this end, the route is decomposedinto the series of route segments such that each node where one routesegment ends and where another route segment begins corresponds to theinitiation of a significant change in a characteristic(s) of the route.Such route characteristics include vehicle speed, road grade, presenceof stop signs or traffic lights, traffic congestion, and the like.

As the vehicle starts traveling from the beginning of a current routesegment, a virtual route based on the remaining portion of the route tobe traveled (i.e., the original route left-to-go) is generated. Thevirtual route has the same total length as the original routeleft-to-go. The virtual route differs from the original route left-to-goby having a smaller amount of route segments than the original routeleft-to-go. In particular, one of the route segments of the virtualroute represents multiple route segments of the original routeleft-to-go.

An optimized sequence of battery state-of-charge (SoC) set-points forthe route segments of the virtual route is generated. The battery SoCset-points are optimized in the sense that the fuel consumption of thevehicle in traveling the original route left-to-go will be minimized,taking into account other considerations such as charge sustainment, inresponse to the battery being controlled in accordance with the batterySoC set-points. The battery SoC set-points may be generated based on oneor more properties of the route segments of the virtual route includingthe virtual route segment that represents multiple segments of theoriginal route left-to-go. The battery is controlled while the vehicleis traveling along the current route segment of the original routeleft-to-go in accordance with the battery SoC set-point for the firstroute segment of the virtual route.

The virtual route generation and battery SoC set-point optimization arerepeated as the vehicle travels along the route and reaches thebeginning of each new route segment. For instance, when the vehicle hasfinished traveling over the current route segment and begins travelingalong the next route segment of the original route left-to-go, a secondvirtual route based on what is now the remaining portion of the actualroute is generated. In turn, an optimized sequence of battery SoCset-points for the route segments of the second virtual route isgenerated. The battery is controlled while the vehicle is travelingalong the next route segment (which is now the current route segment) ofthe updated original route left-to-go with the battery SoC set-point forthe first route segment of the second virtual route.

As described, embodiments of the present invention are based on aReceding Horizon Control (RHC) algorithm for prescribing battery SoCset-points to the battery of a HEV traveling along a route. As thevehicle travels along the route, the original route left-to-go, whichperhaps has a relatively large amount of route segments, is replaced bya virtual route having a relatively small amount of route segments. Thebattery SoC set-point optimization is performed for the virtual routeinstead of for the original route left-to-go. As the virtual route has asmaller amount of route segments than the original route left-to-go, thebattery SoC set-point optimization is performed faster for the virtualroute than it would be performed for the original route left-to-go. Thefirst element of the optimized battery SoC sequence for the virtualroute is then applied as the battery SoC set-point for the current routesegment of the original route left-to-go. That is, the battery of thevehicle is controlled according to the first element of the optimizedbattery SoC sequence for the virtual route as the vehicle travels alongthe current route segment of the original route left-to-go. The virtualroute generation and battery SoC set-point optimization are repeated foreach new (i.e., next) route segment as the vehicle travels along theactual route.

In an embodiment, a method is provided. The method includes utilizingnavigation data from a navigation system to segment a route to betravelled by a travelling vehicle into segments each having a road gradedifferent than neighboring segments. The method further includesdischarging a battery of the vehicle as the vehicle travels along aninitial segment of the route according to a state-of-charge (SoC)set-point based on the road grade of the initial segment and a variablerepresentative of the road grades of at least two other segments of theroute.

In an embodiment, another method is provided. This method includescontrolling a vehicle travelling along an initial segment of a route,segmented into segments each having a characteristic different thanneighboring segments, according to a battery state-of-charge (SoC)set-point based on the characteristic of the initial segment and avariable representative of the characteristics of at least two othersegments of the route.

In an embodiment, a system is provided. The system includes a controllerin communication with a navigation system to receive navigation dataindicative of a route to be travelled by a vehicle. The controller isconfigured to utilize the navigation data to segment the route intosegments each having a characteristic different than neighboringsegments and to control the vehicle as the vehicle travels along aninitial segment of the route according to a state-of-charge (SoC)set-point based on the characteristic of the initial segment and avariable representative of the characteristics of at least two othersegments of the route.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the input and output configurationof the vehicle system controller of the HEV;

FIG. 3 illustrates an original route segmented into route segments inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates state-of-charge (SoC) quantization for the nodes of asegmented route in accordance with battery SoC set-point optimizationfor the route as a whole;

FIG. 5 illustrates a graph of the vehicle speed trajectories for theroute segments of a sample route used to quantify potential benefits ofpath-dependent control in accordance with battery SoC set-pointoptimization for the sample route as a whole; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a graph describing operation of a Receding HorizonControl (RHC) algorithm in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein;however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments aremerely exemplary of the present invention that may be embodied invarious and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scalesome features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details ofparticular components. Therefore, specific structural and functionaldetails disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, butmerely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art tovariously employ the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a schematic representation of a hybrid electricvehicle (HEV) in accordance with embodiments of the present invention isshown. The basic components of the HEV powertrain include an internalcombustion engine 16, an electric battery 12, a power split devicereferred to as a planetary gear set 20, an electric motor 46, and anelectric generator 50. The HEV powertrain has a power-splitconfiguration. This configuration allows engine 16 to directly drivewheels 40 and at the same time charge battery 12 through generator 50.Both motor 46 and engine 16 can drive wheels 40 independently.

Engine 16 is connected to generator 50 through planetary gear set 20.Battery 12 is connected to motor 46 and generator 50. Battery 12 can berecharged or discharged by motor 46 or generator 50 or both. Planetarygear set 20 splits the power produced by engine 16 and transfers onepart of the power to drive wheels 40. Planetary gear set 20 transfersthe remaining part of the power to generator 50 in order to eitherprovide electrical power to motor 46 or to recharge battery 12.

Engine 16 can provide mechanical power to wheels 40 and at the same timecharge battery 12 through generator 50. Depending on the operatingconditions, engine 16, motor 46 (which consumes electric energy storedin battery 12), or both can provide power to wheels 40 to propel thevehicle. The vehicle also incorporates a regenerative braking capabilityto charge battery 12 during vehicle deceleration events. As described,there are several degrees of freedom in this powertrain configuration tosatisfy driver requests. This flexibility can be exploited to optimizefuel consumption.

A hierarchical vehicle system controller 10 coordinates subsystems inthe HEV. Controller 10 is used to capture all possible operating modesand integrate the two power sources, engine 16 and battery 12, to worktogether seamlessly and optimally as well as to meet the driver'sdemand. Controller 10 is configured to send control signals to andreceive sensory feedback information from one or more of battery 12,engine 16, motor 46, and generator 50 in order for power to be providedto wheels 40 for propelling the vehicle. Controller 10 controls thepower source proportioning between battery 12 and engine 16 to providepower to propel the vehicle. As such, controller 10 controls thecharging and discharging of battery 12 and thereby controls the state ofcharge (SoC) of battery 12. Inherent to controller 10 is a logicalstructure to handle various operating modes and a dynamic controlstrategy associated with each operating mode to specify the vehiclerequests to each subsystem. A transmission control module (TCM) 67transmits the commands of controller 10 to motor 46 and generator 50.

As shown in FIG. 2, controller 10 takes as inputs environmentalconditions, the driver's requests, and the current state of the vehicleand provides outputs commands such as torque and speed commands for thepowertrain components of the vehicle. The powertrain then follows thecommands of controller 10.

In order to handle path-dependent control in accordance with embodimentsof the present invention, controller 10 is extended with additionalfunctionality to optimize fuel consumption. In particular, theenvironmental condition inputs for controller 10 include road length,road grade, and vehicle speed of a route to be traveled by the vehicle.The current state of the vehicle as represented by the SoC of battery 12is also an input to controller 10. In order to improve fuel economy,controller 10 controls the transitions from charging to discharging modeand the durations of charging and discharging periods. Towards thisgoal, controller 10 generates the battery SoC set-points for the routeand tracks the battery SoC in order to realize these charging anddischarging transitions that result in fuel efficient travel.

Ideally, battery SoC set-points would be prescribed for every moment oftravel along the route. However, to simplify the computations, the routeis segmented into route segments. A virtual route representing theoriginal route left-to-go is generated each time the vehicle moves fromone route segment to the next route segment. Each virtual route containsless route segments than the corresponding original route left-to-go.Battery SoC set-points are prescribed based on each virtual route. Thebattery is controlled while the vehicle is traveling along each currentroute segment with the battery SoC set-point for the first route segmentof the corresponding virtual route. The segmentation enables controller10 to accurately track the corresponding battery SoC before the end of aroute segment.

FIG. 3 illustrates an original route 70 to be traveled segmented into aseries of route segments 72 in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention. Original route 70 links an origin O to a destinationD. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, originalroute 70 is known in advance by being predicted, expected, forecasted,driver-specified, etc. Original route 70 is segmented into a series ofi=1, . . . , N route segments 72 connected to one another. Thus,original route 70 includes a total of N route segments 72. In FIG. 3,the ω_(i) designates the fuel consumed over the ith route segment.

Each route segment 72 has a length l_(i), a road grade g_(i) and avehicle speed v_(i). This information for each route segment 72 isavailable (e.g., known or predicted) in advance of the vehicle travelingalong the route segment. The road grade and vehicle speed for each routesegment are generally functions of distance and time. The road grade isa deterministic quantity which can be known in advance as a function ofdistance. With respect to modeling the vehicle speed, it is assumed thata nominal vehicle speed trajectory can be predicted for each routesegment, possibly dependent on the characteristics of the route segmentand traffic in the route segment.

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the routesegmentation criteria generally relate to substantial changes incharacteristics of the route such as the average road grade or theaverage vehicle speed. Such changes in the road grade may correspond tothe beginning or end of a hill. Such changes in the vehicle speed maycoincide with the changes in the road class, vehicle deceleration to oracceleration from stop signs or traffic lights, or to trafficconditions. The route segmentation criteria may also relate to theability of controller 10 to track battery SoC set-points within a routesegment. As such, route segments 72 will have different lengths from oneanother in order to provide more efficient aggregation of the relevantroad conditions.

Consequently, a constant average road grade g_(i) can be assumed in eachroute segment and a varying nominal vehicle speed trajectory v_(i) isconsidered in each route segment. Such a representative vehicle speedtrajectory (a scenario) may be chosen consistently with a finite set ofstatistical features (mean, variance, etc.) which are considered to beproperties of traffic on a particular route segment or type of driver.

The state-of-charge (SoC) of battery 12 is a key dynamic state in thesystem. The value of the battery SoC at the beginning of the ith routesegment is denoted as SoC_(i) and the value of the battery SoC at theend of the ith route segment is denoted as SoC_(i+1). The value of thebattery SoC set-point for the ith route segment is denoted asSoC_(d)(i). Controller 10 controls the battery SoC in the ith routesegment in response to the battery SoC set-point SoC_(d) for the ithroute segment.

The expected fuel consumption ω_(i) in the ith route segment is thus afunction of g_(i), v_(i), l_(i), SoC_(i), and SoC_(d)(i), i.e.,ω_(i)(g _(i) ,v _(i) ,l _(i),SoC_(i),SOC_(d)(i))=E{f(g _(i) ,v _(i) ,l_(i),SoC_(i),SoC_(d)(i))}  (equation 1)

E denotes the expected value. The expectation is used in equation 1because the actual vehicle speed trajectory is generally notdeterministic and can deviate from the nominal trajectory (e.g., due todifferent driver and traffic situations) and hence the fuel consumptionis a random variable. In particular, although the grade, the nominalvehicle speed, and the length of a route segment are deterministicquantities, the vehicle speed trajectory over the route segment is not.Different drivers may produce different vehicle speed profiles whilemaintaining the same average speed. Even the same driver will not beable to regenerate completely accurately a previously realized vehicletrajectory. Environmental conditions including severe weather andtraffic situations and even the personality and mood of the driver mayaffect the vehicle speed trajectory on trips. Therefore, vehicle speedtrajectory is a probabilistic quantity. Consequently, even though anominal speed on a route segment or a more realistic speed model isgiven, this information is not sufficient to compute a reliable valuefor the fuel consumption along a route segment. Thus, a valuerepresentative enough for every type of driver and every environmentalsituation has to be considered for the fuel consumption of a routesegment. An appropriate way to satisfy this goal is to consider theexpected value of the fuel consumption over multiple probabilisticrealizations of vehicle speed. Accordingly, a large amount of speedtrajectories around an originally given speed model is generatedprobabilistically for each route segment. For all of those speedtrajectories, the corresponding fuel consumption (i.e., {f (g_(i),v_(i), l_(i), SoC_(i), SoC_(d)(i))}) is computed. The expected value(i.e., E{f (g_(i), v_(i), l_(i), SoC_(i), SoC_(d)(i))}) of those fuelconsumptions is the representative fuel consumption of the route segmentthat will be provided as an optimization algorithm input as describedherein.

As indicated above, controller 10 includes a high-level portion whichprescribes the battery SoC set-points for the route. The upper-levelcontroller can vary the battery SoC set-point as a function of time.While this may be feasible over a short planning horizon, over longerplanning horizons the computational effort may be large. Furthermore,route information may only be available in aggregated/averaged form overa continuous route portion. Thus, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention, a route to be traveled is segmented into routesegments (as shown in FIG. 3) and, as the vehicle travels along theroute, battery SoC set-points are prescribed for each route segment.

As further indicated above, controller 10 includes a lower-level portionwhich controls power flows within the HEV to satisfy the driver powerrequest and ensure that the battery SoC tracks the specified SoCset-point. The lower-level controller takes as inputs the battery SoC atthe beginning of a route segment, the grade of the route segment, thevehicle speed of the route segment, the length of the route segment, andthe target battery SoC at the end of the route segment (prescribed bythe upper-level controller). Of course, the lower-level controller alsoreceives as inputs typical vehicle information such as driver powerrequest, auxiliary power loads, motor speed, engine speed, etc. Based onthe inputs, the lower-level controller generates torque and speedcommands for the HEV components to ensure tracking of the battery SoCset-point for the route segment. As indicated, a route segmented inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention will likely haveroute segments of different lengths in order to provide more efficientaggregation of the relevant route conditions.

As indicated above, for a route segmented into N route segments withcertain properties of each route segment being known, controller 10 hasthe ability to prescribe a sequence of battery SoC set-points{SoC_(d)(i), i=1, . . . , N} for the route to minimize the total fuelconsumption. The sequence of battery SoC set-points is generated basedon the known properties of the route segments. Controller 10 further hasthe ability to control the battery SoC in the ith route segment inresponse to the battery SoC set-point SoC_(d)(i) for the ith routesegment.

Let i be the current node and the beginning of the ith route segment,i=1, 2, . . . , N+1, where i=1 and i=N+1 represent, respectively, theorigin and destination nodes of the route. Controller 10 incorporates acontrol law which is a function of the state vector x(i) with twocomponents: the segment/node i and the state of charge SoC_(i) at thatnode. The state dynamics are:

$\begin{matrix}{{{{x\left( {i + 1} \right)} = {F\left( {{x(i)},{{SoC}_{d}(i)}} \right)}},{and}}{{x(i)} = {\begin{pmatrix}i \\{SoCi}\end{pmatrix}.}}} & \left( {{equation}\mspace{14mu} 2} \right)\end{matrix}$

The state at the current node is x(i). F is a nonlinear function whichgenerates a successor state from the precedent state.

The objective of minimizing the total fuel consumption along the routecan be formulated as follows:min J[SoC_(d)(i)]=Σ_(i=1) ^(N)ω_(i)  (equation 3)

subject to SoC_(min)≦SoC_(i+1)≦SoC_(max) and subject toSoC_(N+1)=SoC_(D).

J is the objective function of the optimization problem. SoC_(d)(i)(iε{1, 2, 3, . . . N}) are the manipulated variables. SoC_(min) andSoC_(max) are respectively the minimum and maximum SoC limits. J is astage-additive cost function and the stage cost reflects the expectedfuel consumption in each route segment i. The constraintSoC_(N+1)=SoC_(D) is an optional constraint to match the battery SoC tothe desired battery SoC value at the end of the route. The choiceSoC_(D)=SoC_(O) ensures that the battery charge is sustained over theroute.

The optimization algorithm employed by controller 10 translates theproperty of any final part of an optimal trajectory to be optimal withrespect to its initial state into a computational procedure in which thecost-to-go function J*(x) can be recursively computed and satisfies thefollowing relationships:J*(x)=min[SoC_(d) ]{J*(F(x,SoC_(d)))+ω(x,SoC_(d))},and  (equation 4)J*(x _(f))=0.  (equation 5)

J* is the value function in the optimization problem. SoC_(d)=SoC_(d)(x)is the manipulated variable. x=[i, SoC]^(T) is the state vector with theelements being the route segment number i, i=1, . . . , N and thebattery SoC at the beginning of the segment. The vector x_(f) representsthe final state, which is the state at the destination. F is a nonlinearstate transition function, which generates the next state from theprecedent one. If the battery set-point SoC_(d) is feasible, then forx=[i, SoC]^(T) it follows that F(x, SoC_(d))=[i+1, SoC_(d)]^(T). Thevariable ω(x, SoC_(d)) denotes the expected fuel consumption for thestate x and the battery SoC set-point SoC_(d).

For on-line implementation, a regression model may be used to estimatethe expected fuel consumption ω(x, SoC_(d)) as a function of batterySoC=x(2) at the beginning of the segment, battery SoC set-point SoC_(d)within the segment, and i=x(l)th segment properties (grade, length,features of vehicle speed trajectory such as average, maximum, andminimum speeds and accelerations, etc.). The fuel consumption model mayalso include a dependence on the driver style (passive or aggressive)which may be inferred on-line from the variance of acceleration pedalinput and vehicle speed. Either vehicle measurement data over differentroads or the results of vehicle simulations may be used to develop sucha fuel consumption model.

For a given battery SoC at the beginning of the ith segment, not allSoC_(d) are feasible, i.e, can be tracked within a tolerance of 0.5percent before the end of the segment. Such infeasible values of SoC_(d)are eliminated from the optimization by artificially assigning a highvalue to the fuel consumption. Thus, only battery SoC set-points thatcan be accurately tracked before the end of each road segment areconsidered for prescription.

Given that battery SoC is a continuously-valued quantity, for thenumeral implementation of the optimization, the values of battery SoCare quantized. With a quantization of the form SoC_(i)ε{SoC¹, SoC², . .. SoC^(n)} with SoC¹≦Soc²≦ . . . ≦SoC^(n), every segment i of the routecan be associated with n² possible pairs of initial SoC and final SoC,i.e., (SoC_(i), SoC_(i+1)), and thus with n² possible values for theexpected fuel consumption ω as shown in FIG. 4.

A case study of the battery SoC set-point optimization for a route as awhole will now be described. A sample route was segmented into sevenroute segments (i.e., N=7). The route is assumed to have zero roadgrade. Length information for each route segment and the vehicle speedtrajectory in each route segment were assumed to be available and knownin advance. Table I below indicates the length and road grade of eachroute segment. FIG. 5 illustrates a graph of the vehicle speedtrajectory in each route segment. As illustrated, the vehicle speedtrajectory for the entire route includes ramp-like changes and constantvehicle speed intervals.

TABLE I Segment 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Length 0.87 0.68 0.74 0.98 1.02 0.59 0.42(miles) Grade (%) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

The battery SoC at the route origin (i.e., at the beginning of routesegment (1)) is SoC_(O)=50%. To sustain the charge in battery 12, thedesired battery SoC at the route destination (i.e., at the end of routesegment (7)) is SoC_(D)=50%. The values of SoC_(min) and SoC_(max) wereset to 40% and 60%, respectively.

Table II below compares the fuel consumption with the battery SoCset-point optimization for the route as a whole (referred to as “wholeroute optimization”) and the fuel consumption with the battery SoCset-point being maintained at 50% in each route segment (referred to as“No SoC Control”). The fuel consumption (0.32 kg) when the battery iscontrolled in accordance with the battery SoC set-point whole routeoptimization is about 13.5% lower than the fuel consumption (0.37 kg)when the battery SoC is maintained constant over the entire route. Thisfuel consumption reduction benefit is specific to the selected route andthe potential benefits of varying battery SoC set-point within the routemay be different depending on the route.

As further indicated in Table II, the prescribed battery SoC set-pointsequence is “50-52-50-48-46-46-44-50”. As such, the battery SoCset-point for the 1^(st) and 8^(th) nodes (i.e., the origin anddestination) is 50%. The battery SoC set-points for the 2^(nd) through7^(th) nodes are 52%, 50%, 48%, 46%, 46%, and 44%, respectively.

TABLE II Total Fuel FUEL SAVINGS 13.5% Consumption (kg) SoC_(d) sequence(%) No SoC control 0.37 50-50-50-50-50-50-50-50 whole route optimization0.32 50-52-50-48-46-46-44-50

The battery SoC set-point whole route optimization approach (i.e., asingle prescription of a sequence of battery SoC set-points for a routesegmented into N route segments {SoC_(d)(i), i=1, . . . , N} with thebattery SoC in the ith route segment to be controlled pursuant to thebattery SoC set-point SoC_(d)(i) for the ith route segment) is helpfulin delineating potential benefits of adjusting battery SoC set-pointsaccording to the route being traveled. In implementing the whole routeoptimization approach, two issues need to be considered. The first issueinvolves computing effort. The second issue involves dependence on routecharacteristics which may not be accurately known in advance.

The computing effort of the whole route optimization approach depends onthe number of states in the model. As described, the model used foroptimization had only a single vehicle state (namely, the battery SoC).Hence, computing the optimal control on-line using the whole routeoptimization approach may be feasible for routes with relatively fewroute segments. However, the whole route optimization approach maybecome computationally prohibitive for on-board applications if theroute contains relatively many route segments. Since route segmentationis based on changes in road and traffic conditions in accordance withembodiments of the present invention, routes over which optimizationneeds to be performed may contain a relatively large amount of routesegments.

The second issue of the whole route optimization approach deals with thefact that although only a prediction of the route with anticipateddriving characteristics along the route segments are available, thecharacteristics of the route actually traveled may turn out to bedifferent. Variability in road and traffic conditions or in the driver'schoices may result in such deviations. Therefore, the control policy forthe whole route optimization approach has to either be regularlyrecomputed or corrected to account for these changes.

In order to address the noted issues of the whole route optimizationapproach, embodiments of the present invention provide a RecedingHorizon Control (RHC) optimization approach as an alternative.

A general description of the RHC optimization approach is as follows.Assume that a HEV travels along a route L having N segments, where N isrelatively large. Suppose the vehicle is currently at the beginning ofthe kth segment of the route. The remaining part of the route L(k) isthe original route left-to-go and has N−k route segments. That is, theremaining part of the route L(k) is the original route minus the routesegments already traveled. A virtual route L′(k) is generated to replacethe original route left-to-go. The virtual route has n_(c)+1 routesegments, where n_(c)<<N. In the virtual route, each of the n_(c)segments correspond to respective ones of the segments of the originalroute left-to-go. The (n_(c)+1) segment of the virtual route is avirtual terminal segment. In particular, the n_(c) segments of thevirtual route are the initial n_(c) segments of the virtual route andare taken from the initial n_(c) segments of the original routeleft-to-go. For instance, if n_(c)=2, then first and second segments ofthe virtual route are the initial two segments of the virtual route andare taken from the first and second segments, respectively, of theoriginal route left-to-go. The (n_(c)+1) segment (i.e., the virtualterminal segment) of the virtual route is the last segment of thevirtual route and represents all of the segments of the original routeleft-to-go following the n_(c) segments of the original routeleft-to-go. The virtual terminal segment (e.g., the (n_(c)+1) segment ofthe virtual route) represents, on average, the characteristics of thelast N−k−n_(c) segments of the original route.

After the virtual route L′(k) is generated, an optimized sequence ofbattery SoC set-points {SoC*_(d)(l), l=1, 2, . . . , n_(c)+1} isgenerated using the optimization approach on the virtual route L′(k).That is, the optimization is done for a virtual route containing onlyn_(c)+1 route segments as opposed to being done for the original routeleft-to-go containing N−k route segments (and as opposed to being donefor the route as a whole containing N route segments). As a result, theoptimization may be performed relatively fast and in an on-board manneras there are relatively few route segments involved in the optimizationcomputations. After the optimization for the virtual route L′(k) iscompleted, the assignment SOC_(d)(k)=SoC*_(d)(l) is made (i.e., thebattery SoC set-point for the kth segment of the actual route isassigned to be the battery SoC set-point for the first segment of thevirtual route).

Again, recall that the vehicle is currently at the beginning of the kthsegment of the route. Once the vehicle progresses to the beginning ofthe next route segment (i.e., the (k+1) route segment), the virtualroute generation and optimization processes are repeated. At this point,the vehicle is at the beginning of the k+1 segment of the route and theoriginal route left-to-go has N−k−1 route segments. A second virtualroute having n_(c)+1 route segments is then generated. The virtualterminal segment (i.e., the n_(c)+1 segment of the second virtual route)represents, on average, the characteristics of the omitted N−k−1−n_(c)segments of the original route. An optimized sequence of battery SoCset-points {SoC*_(d)(l), l=1, 2, . . . , n_(c)+1} is generated using theoptimization approach on the second virtual route. The assignmentSOC_(d)(k)=SoC*_(d)(l) is then made (i.e., the battery SoC set-point forthe k+1 segment of the actual route is assigned to be the battery SoCset-point for the first segment of the second virtual route).

The virtual route generation and optimization processes are repeated asthe vehicle progresses to the beginning of subsequent route segmentsuntil a route segment corresponding to a sufficiently large value of kis reached for which L(k) consists of just n_(c)+1 route segments (thevalue k being incremented each time a new current route segment begins).At this point, optimization is solved for this remaining part of theactual route.

With the Receding Horizon Control (RHC) approach, optimization isperformed over a route with n_(c)+1 segments and thus requiressignificantly less computing time and effort compared with whole routeoptimization (assuming n_(c)<<N). Further, with the RHC approach,characteristic changes of the route being traveled can be accounted foras a result of the optimization being repeated at the beginning of newroute segments.

With reference to FIG. 6, an example of the RHC approach will bedescribed. This example uses the same sample route described above withreference to FIG. 5. As described, the sample route is segmented intoN=7 route segments. In this application of the RHC approach, the horizon(n_(c)) is chosen to be two segments (e.g., n_(c)=2). Thus, a threesegment route is considered and optimized at each step of the approach.The three segment route includes the current segment, the next segment,and a virtual third segment. The virtual third segment represents onaverage the remaining part of the original route (i.e., the originalroute left-to-go) following the current and next segments.

The starting point is with the vehicle at the beginning of the route(i.e., at the beginning of route segment (1)). At this point, theoriginal route left-to-go is the original route itself as the vehiclehas just started traveling from the beginning of the route. A virtualroute having three segments is generated according to the RHC approach.The first and second segments of the virtual route are the first andsecond segments of the original route, respectively. The third segmentof the virtual route is a virtual terminal segment. The virtual terminalsegment is characterized by the total length, the average speed, and theaverage grade of the remaining route segments of the original route(i.e., the 3^(th), 4^(th), 5^(th), 6^(th), and 7^(th) segments of theoriginal route). The virtual terminal segment includes acceleration anddeceleration portions from initial to final vehicle speed values (seeFIG. 6).

Next, according to the RHC approach, an optimized sequence of batterySoC set-points is generated using the optimization approach on thethree-segment virtual route in order to obtain a battery SoC sequencethat minimizes fuel consumption. This optimization results in50→50→48→50 as the optimal battery SoC sequence (also shown in FIG. 6).This sequence suggests that 50% should be used as the battery SoC targeton the first segment. Thus, the battery SoC is controlled to bemaintained at 50% (as the initial battery SoC was 50% at the beginningof the first route segment). When the vehicle arrives at the beginningof the next route segment (i.e., the second route segment), the virtualroute generation and battery SoC optimization are repeated.

This subsequent iteration at the beginning of the next route segment issimilar to the initial iteration with the difference being that theroute over which optimization is to be performed has changed. Inparticular, the beginning of the original route left-to-go now coincideswith the beginning of the second route segment. The original routeleft-to-go at this point includes the segments 2 through 7 and does notinclude the first segment as the vehicle is at the beginning of thesecond segment having already traveled over the first route segment. Asecond virtual route having three segments is generated. The secondvirtual route includes the 2^(nd) and 3^(rd) segments of the originalroute and includes a second virtual terminal segment. The second virtualterminal segment is characterized by the total length, the averagespeed, and the average grade of the remaining route segments of theoriginal route (i.e., the 4^(th), 5^(th), 6^(th), and 7^(th) segments ofthe original route). Next, an optimized sequence of battery SoCset-points is generated using the optimization approach on the secondvirtual route in order to obtain a battery SoC sequence that minimizesfuel consumption. The first element of the optimized battery SoCset-point sequence is set as the battery SoC set-point for the secondsegment of the route.

The procedure continues until the final iteration is reached where thevehicle has to travel just three segments until reaching thedestination. At this point, the route-to-optimize includes the lastthree segments of the original route and the optimal SoC sequence issimply computed for the route consisting of the last three segments ofthe original route.

A case study of the Receding Horizon Control (RHC) approach inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention will now bedescribed. This study illustrates the results of the RHC approach andpresents a comparison with the battery SoC optimization for a route as awhole approach (“whole route optimization”). This study uses the samesample route described with reference to FIG. 5. Again, the grade of theentire route is zero and the SoC at the origin and destination is set tobe 50%.

Table III summarizes the effect that the RHC and whole routeoptimization approaches have on fuel consumption. When the battery SoCset-point is not varied the total fuel consumption is 0.37 kg. With theRHC optimization approach the total fuel consumption is 0.33 kg. Withthe whole route optimization approach the total fuel consumption is 0.32kg. The RHC optimization approach thus achieves a substantial fractionof the benefit of the whole route optimization approach for thisparticular route.

TABLE III Fuel Fuel Savings Consumption SoC_(d) sequence (%) (%) No SoCcontrol 0.37 50-50-50-50-50-50-50-50 0 RHC optimization 0.3350-50-48-52-50-50-44-50 10.8 whole route 0.32 50-52-50-48-46-46-44-5013.5 optimization

As shown in Table III, the two methods (RHC and whole routeoptimization) produce different SoC sequences. This is because at thebeginning of each new route segment the RHC optimization approachoptimizes the fuel consumption over a virtual route which is anapproximation of the route left-to-go. On the other hand, the wholeroute optimization approach performs a single optimization for theentire route.

Another case study of the RHC optimization approach in accordance withembodiments of the present invention will now be described. In thisstudy, the same sample route is used again. However, a grade of 1% isinserted at the fourth segment and a grade of −1% is inserted at thesixth segment. The rest of the sample route characteristics remainunchanged. Table IV summarizes the improvement of fuel economy that RHCand whole route optimization have on fuel consumption when the grade isnot zero along the entire route. When the battery SoC set-point is notvaried the total fuel consumption is 0.37 kg. As such, although thegrade of the route has changed, the total fuel consumption has not. Thiscan be explained as the average grade of the entire route is slightlypositive, but still very close to zero. With the RHC optimizationapproach the total fuel consumption has increased to 0.34 kg. With thewhole route optimization approach the total fuel consumption hasincreased to 0.33 kg. These results indicate that the RHC optimizationapproach is able to reduce fuel consumption and attain a significantfraction of the achievable benefit given by the whole route optimizationapproach.

TABLE IV Fuel Total fuel Savings consumption kg SoC_(d) (%) (%) No SoCcontrol 0.37 50-50-50-50-50-50-50-50 0 RHC optimization 0.3450-50-48-54-52-46-44-50 8.1 whole route 0.33 50-52-50-54-48-48-44-5010.8 ptimization

As described, the RHC optimization approach is computationally fasterthan the whole route optimization approach. The RHC optimizationapproach enables on-board optimization for fuel consumption benefits.The RHC optimization approach is able to incorporate changes in theroute information during the trip, e.g., changes in traffic information,when re-optimizing the control solution. Although certain segmentcharacteristics, such as grade and distance, can be considered asdeterministic quantities, the vehicle speed trajectories of differenttripe over the same segment are not. Factors such as weather and trafficconditions or even the personality and mood of the driver may affect thespeed trajectory. The ability of the RHC optimization approach toaccount for these changes while providing a significant fraction of thefuel consumption reduction benefits as compared to the whole routeoptimization approach is thus beneficial.

As described, embodiments of the present invention are directed to aReceding Horizon Control (RHC) optimization approach to path-dependentcontrol of a HEV for reduced fuel consumption. In the RHC optimizationapproach, a route with a relatively large amount of segments is replacedby a virtual route having relatively few segments. The segments of thevirtual route other than the last segment of the virtual routecorrespond one-to-one with the initial segments of the original routeleft-to-go. The last segment of the virtual route is a virtual terminalsegment. The virtual terminal segment represents on average all of thelast remaining segments of the original route left-to-go. Each segmentis characterized by its length, grade, average speed, and possibly otherparameters which permit an estimate of the expected fuel consumptionover the segment. The optimal battery state-of-charge (SoC) set-pointsequence, which minimizes the expected fuel consumption, is determinedfor the virtual route. The first element of the optimal battery SoCset-point sequence for the virtual route is applied for the currentsegment of the original route left-to-go. During travel along the route,the battery SoC optimization is recomputed at the beginning of eachsegment of the actual route until the end of the route is reached.

While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended thatthese embodiments describe all possible forms of the present invention.Rather, the words used in the specification are words of descriptionrather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Additionally, the features of various implementingembodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: utilizing navigation datafrom a navigation system to segment a route to be travelled by atravelling vehicle into segments each having a road grade different thanneighboring segments; discharging a battery of the vehicle, as thevehicle travels along an initial segment of the route, according to astate-of-charge (SoC) set-point from a sequence of SoC set-points forrespective segments of a simpler version of the route having the initialsegment, a single segment representing the last two or more segments ofthe route, and any remaining segments of the route, the set-point forthe initial segment depending on the set-point for the single segmentrepresenting the last two or more segments of the route as the sequenceis prescribed to minimize fuel consumption for the simpler versiontaking into account the road grade of the initial segment and a variablerepresentative of the road grades of the last two or more segments ofthe route.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein: the variable representativeof the characteristics of the last two or more segments of the route isan average of the characteristics of the last two or more segments ofthe route.
 3. The method of claim 1 further comprising: discharging thebattery, as the vehicle travels along a next segment of the route afterthe initial segment, according to a next battery SoC set-point from anext sequence of SoC set-points for respective segments of a nextsimpler version of the route lacking the initial segment and having thenext segment and a single segment representing the last two or moresegments of the route other than the initial and next segments, the nextsequence being prescribed to minimize fuel consumption for the nextsimpler version taking into account the road grade of the next segmentand a variable representative of the road grades of the last two or moresegments of the route other than the initial and next segments.
 4. Amethod comprising: controlling a vehicle travelling along an initialsegment of a route, segmented into segments having characteristicsdifferent than neighboring segments, according to a batterystate-of-charge (SoC) set-point from a sequence of SoC set-points forrespective segments of a simpler version of the route having the initialsegment and one segment representing two or more last segments of theroute, the set-points dependent on another in minimizing fuelconsumption for the simpler version.
 5. The method of claim 4 furthercomprising: utilizing navigation data from a navigation system tosegment the route into the segments each having a characteristicdifferent than neighboring segments while the vehicle is traveling priorto the vehicle traveling along the initial segment of the route.
 6. Themethod of claim 5 wherein: the navigation data is indicative of roadgrade along the route such that the characteristic of each segmentpertains to road grade with each segment being associated with adifferent road grade than neighboring segments.
 7. The method of claim 5wherein: the navigation data is indicative of vehicle speed along theroute such that the characteristic of each segment pertains to vehiclespeed with each segment being associated with a different vehicle speedthan neighboring segments.
 8. The method of claim 5 wherein: thenavigation data is indicative of traffic congestion along the route suchthat the characteristic of each segment pertains to traffic congestionwith each segment being associated with a different traffic congestionthan neighboring segments.
 9. The method of claim 4 further comprising:controlling the vehicle as the vehicle travels along a next segment ofthe route after the initial segment according to a battery SoC set-pointfrom a next sequence of SoC set-points for respective segments of a nextsimpler version of the route lacking the initial segment and having thenext segment and the one segment representing two or more last segmentsof the route, the next sequence of set-points dependent on another inminimizing fuel consumption for the next simpler version.
 10. The methodof claim 4 wherein: the characteristic of each segment pertains tovehicle speed and road grade such that each segment is associated withat least a different one of vehicle speed and road grade thanneighboring segments.
 11. A system comprising: a controller incommunication with a navigation system to receive navigation dataindicative of a route to be travelled by a vehicle, the controller beingconfigured to utilize the navigation data to segment the route intosegments each having a characteristic different than neighboringsegments and to control the vehicle as the vehicle travels along aninitial segment of the route according to a state-of-charge (SoC)set-point from a sequence of SoC set-points for respective segments of asimpler version of the route having the initial segment, a singlesegment representing the last two or more segments of the route, and anyremaining segments of the route, the set-point for the initial segmentdependent on the set-point for the single segment representing the lasttwo or more segments of the route as the sequence is prescribed tominimize fuel consumption for the simpler version taking into accountthe characteristic of the initial segment and a variable representativeof the characteristics of the last two or more segments of the route.12. The system of claim 11 wherein: the variable representative of thecharacteristics of the last two or more segments of the route is anaverage of the characteristics of the last two or more segments of theroute.